film photography

“Film Photography” - a critical misnomer.

November 21, 2020 in Thinkpiece

“Film Photography” - a critical misnomer.

Andrew D. McClees, Edited by Maxime Lester and Billy Gomberg

“Film Photography” - a critical misnomer.

PC: Andrew D. McClees (2015) Typical Casual Formalist work.

Film or Analogue photography has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance over the last five to ten years. Kodak was reporting steady growth each year, over a three year period back in 2019. This growth can largely attributed to the growing niche or subculture of The Film Community on platforms like Flickr, and Instagram. The medium (rather than the subculture itself) hit a new level of notoriety in the modern era through support from and from celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Jason Momoa, and Jeff Bridges. For those not aware, the Film Community is a nebulous subculture within photography, mostly based entirely around shooting film as a hobby, largely in opposition to digital photography - a distinction largely pushed by companies including, but not limited to: The Darkroom, Film Photography Project, and Lomographic Corp - as a method of identity or lifestyle branding.

The Film Community has generated miniature social media (read +/- 100k followers, but no real presence outside social) celebrities (EX: Matt Day, Willem Verbeek, and Corey Wolfenberger) within it, notable for working on film and/or making content about analogue photography. These photographers of note, alongside their many disciples and imitators have dubbed themselves “film photographers.” At first glance, the term “film photographer” is applicable, it describes the medium that the practitioners work off of. However “Film Photographer” has largely come to denote an additional set of shared aesthetic criteria or commonalities which has very little to do with the fact that the work is shot on film - making the label at best colloquial, and at worst invalid. The term “Film Photography” has become a failure as a literal descriptor, and is primarily a colloquialism for a specific kind of formalist photography that happens to be shot on film while not commenting on film as a medium, and is secondarily used to denote a hobbyist who shoots film with no particular focus.

PC: Andrew D. McClees (2017) Casual Formalist Photography - with growing intent.

Every genre of photography can be defined by a set of criteria based on how the photograph is used (“Fine-Art” being a qualifier, rather than a genre or subgenre unto itself) and the subject matter contained in it. To pose some quick and simple examples: Landscape photography is about nature and the shape of the land, Portrait photography is about taking portrait photographs of people, Fashion is about showcasing different articles of clothing; the list goes on. So that poses the question: “What is “film photography” about?” Are the practitioners of so-called “film photography” doing photographic artwork about the film that they shoot on? Is the subject matter of their art directly relevant to the fact that they’re using film? Most often not. While there are artists who work in lens based mediums, alternative processes, and in photo-chemistry making art about the material that they use, they rarely call themselves “Film Photographers.”

The majority of the subject matter in “Film Photography” has nothing to do with the fact that it was shot on film. While much of the base aesthetic criteria associated with “film photography” is attributable to the medium and not the content; Grain, and Tonality being the most commonly cited positive features of film. Urban landscapes and diaristic slices of life are common topics and subjects in “Film Photography” but have little if anything to do with the fact that it was shot on film, and the tone and grain of film might add to the photo but they’re ultimately superficial features. There’s nothing about the subject matter that has to do with film — one could shoot the same photo on a digital camera and add all those touches (grain, tones, etc.) and for the most part nobody would know the difference unless you made them aware of it.

To invoke the bête noire of the film community: when was the last time a photographer who uses digital gear described themselves as a “digital photographer?” They don’t because it doesn’t actually matter to their work. If you want to describe yourself as someone who shoots or uses analog processes, that’s fine, but just as a use of language, consider using the term “film shooter” or at the very least if you’d consider adding a tag of “analog” or “film-based” onto your self description — ie “analog landscape photographer” that way I know you’re (rhetorical) a landscape photographer who shoots film. To offer up another angle there’s also the debate about hybrid vs. totally analogue processes, and the fact that every “film” or “analogue” image you see on the net had to be digitized in some format to get it on to the standard platforms of digital consumption. On top of that most of these images that are consumed via social media platforms were and are digitally edited - making it a debate on how “analogue” most of these images ultimately are.

Andrew D. McClees — Outtake From “DUSK” 2019 (Formalism as Expressionism)

“Film Photographer” in broad strokes has come to denote a casual or hobbyist photographer who takes snaps on film, usually in a moody style. That expression doesn’t adequately describe what the photographers in question are taking photos of - making the term colloquial at best. If one takes photos of one’s friends and family, why not call oneself a social photographer or a portrait photographer, or even a documentary photographer (personal gripes aside about passing off otherwise unremarkable family/friend photos off as art). If you shoot mostly to document your daily life, why not call yourself a documentary photographer, or a diaristic photographer, or something that speaks to what you do? There’s nothing wrong about being descriptive and specific about what you do or what you photograph. The term “Film Photographer” has created a ghettoized environment separate from the rest of photography. I’m not saying that we should abolish the film community or the tags associated with them, merely to point out that “film photographer” is meaningless and often has little to do with the medium itself, and fails to adequately describe most work under its umbrella.

So, now that I’ve gone to great length to describe why I think “Film Photography” has become bad terminology, let me offer up a potential academic term for it and an explanation of where I believe the movement’s artistic lineage stems from:

Casual Formalist Photography or “Casual Formalism.”

On its surface to the layman - Casual Formalism might sound like cognitive dissonance - it’s not so let me break down formalism first (in a broad definition), then I’ll circle back to the casual:

Formalism (in photography) is the part of photography that focuses on images that center on the “formal” elements - elements deriving from the “form” - Lighting, Composition, Tonality, and Medium (Film V. Digital etc). As opposed to realism (pure documentation - no perspective or decisions made) or expressionism (pure emotiveness or expression.) You can find a quick cheat sheet here.

Casual, at least in the manner I’m using it - refers to the broad assumption that most of the photographers doing this kind of work (ie Photos of conventionally attractive women, abandoned houses, “quirky suburbs,” old cars, or general nostalgia based photography) are not doing this as a serious artistic practice, nor are they aiming for a deeper purpose or commentary in their art. However, the photos being made are intentionally artistic enough to escape the label “vernacular” (going off of MOMA’s definition) in that they are created to be art, rather than truly commercial or documentary in nature.

I would offer up that most “film photographers” (or from here out “casual formalists,”) work very much in this formal scope - they aim to take aesthetically pleasing pictures that may or may not have some emotional or documentary (ie actively documenting a place or phenomena) perspective but tend to dwell mostly at surface level; e.g. a picture of a landscape or abandoned house that’s well lit and #shotonfilm might evoke a strong emotion, but ultimately it typically ends up being mostly about that composition and the lighting that gives it emotion - with a tertiary concern (from an outside perspective) being that it was shot on film - largely nothing about the photo actually matters that it was shot on the film except for the insider community knowledge.

Likewise, these photos rarely push the bounds of composition or structure in the formal sphere. The photos are often well composed, but they rarely push beyond standard practice enough to be notable for their composition, or a commentary on composition. On the topic of film itself, most of the photographers rarely actively consider or comment on the medium upon which their work is made, except for the superficial “Film is nostalgic, therefore this nostalgia based image (old cars, abandoned houses, vintage dress), is nostalgic,” making the fact that most of the images in the “film community” are shot on film almost entirely irrelevant to the images they shoot on that film. However, for whatever reason (perhaps it is that one singular superficial point, of film nostalgia) a lot of similar minded work ends up getting done on film, even though there’s absolutely nothing about it that necessitates being done on film.

“I hope those last four generations don’t look too far down on me” - Andrew D. McClees, 2019 from HARDLY LOCAL. (Documentary Photography with strong Formalist Elements as Expressionism)

This sort of lack of depth either in formalist concerns, or using those formal elements to pursue a deeper truth via expressionism or through documentarian studies is why I’ve deemed “casual” most of the art being made is by hobbyists - not professionals, or career artists. There’s largely nothing wrong with that - getting out and making art for personal fulfilment, as a hobby is a great thing in fact and largely beneficial to most who pursue it. My misgivings about it stem from a subset of photographers and creators riding their way to social media fame while offering up nothing in terms of critical or philosophical depth in their work.

In terms of stylistic origins I’d give equal credit to the Instagram algorithm (the propensity for the website’s algorithm to show people work or images that is relatively alike in nature), Stephen Shore, William Eggleston (along with Christenberry) and Todd Hido (though I’d argue all four are expressionist or documentary photographers who have strong understanding of formal elements). I realize there’s a whole subset of portrait and fashion photographers in The Film Community, but at the risk of getting meanspirited, most of them don’t have a whole lot of artistic lineage beyond “make a reasonable portrait of an attractive person,” though on the fashion tip there can be some legitimate artistic direction. There are many street photographers who still shoot film, but (in my experience) they tend to nest themselves more within the street photography community rather than say the film community even if there is some crossover.

Moving the scope in part I’ve derived the term from the trend of “zombie formalism” in painting. Though as a fellow photographer who started my current artistic career (not that on the whole I’d call it any great shakes as of now) in much the same spot, I don’t particularly hold the level of disdain for the movement the way Saltz seems to hold for it. Zombie Formalism lines up well with Casual Formalism in that both are superficial and relatively bland movements, but the comparison ends there - Zombie Formalism is a fine art movement and is typically only used to refer to a particular kind of abstract oil or mixed media painting, where Casual Formalism is a popular movement or practitioner base - though both have served as significant stumbling blocks for many practitioners in both movements, in that they can’t seem to move beyond or individuate themselves from the movement.

If you feel okay using “film photographer” after all this as a colloquium - that’s cool, as long as you’re aware. Likewise, please keep photographing, and keep shooting film. As long as you’re creating art, and getting something out of it, that’s the most important part. However as an actual definition of the whole artistic movement or the phenomena, or art itself, I believe it should be called Casual Formalism from here out - rather than “Film Photography.

You, Me, We, Them: Adali Schell

August 02, 2020 in interview

You, Me, We, Them: Adali Schell

Andrew D. McClees (ADM): For those who aren't familiar, could you introduce yourself and your work?

Adali Schell (AS): Hi, my name is Adali Schell, I'm 19 years old and a street photographer from LA and I'm developing my first self published book/zine. I've been shooting LA's streets since I was 14, so this is something like six years in the making. I've been drawn to the streets since I was little - to get to my elementary school my mom would take Hollywood Boulevard, and even then I remember peering out the window, fascinated by LA's unique street culture and life. As I grew, I became aware of LA's superficiality driven by Hollywood, social media and our collective quench for fame, wealth, and materialistic longings, yet, as an Angeleno, I knew of an authenticity to LA that has never been shown to the rest of the world.

I started shooting after seeing Finding Vivian Maier, a documentary on the 20th century NYC/Chicago street photographer. Through this film, I discovered the world of street photography which prompted an awakening within myself as to how I can translate my frustrations around LA's misrepresentation into a meaningful and creative exercise. I picked up a camera and never turned back I suppose. Moving on from digital to analog film, studying photographers like Joel Meyerowitz, Garry Winogrand, Richard Sandler, Lee Friedlander and even younger, active photographers like Daniel Arnold, Todd Gross, Joey Prince, John Harding, Colleen Combs, Ben Molina, Aaron Berger, Geoff Haggray, Julian Master, Troy Holden, Jonathan Walker, Todd Fisher... I'll stop here to be polite. This list goes on for years.

ADM: On it's face your upcoming zine is a compilation of your work from 2017 to now - is there a particular theme that unites the photos you chose, and what was your experience like, selecting photos retrospectively?

AS: I like to rely on my subconscious. While shooting, I try to rid myself of my conscious mind to let my innermost mind speak - I don't second guess the impulse to shoot, if I feel it, I snap it. I don't spend any time thinking about the shot, I try to capture it as closely to how I saw it. I've learned that I am just as much an instrument as the camera is. Everything I've ever shot first came through my eyes and brain, then to my camera. I am the filter to this otherwise disorienting and upsetting world. Not to pride myself too much. And of course, I went into this with a general idea of what I hoped to create - something reminiscent of Daniel Arnold craziness, with Friedlander-like composition, Winogrand-like impulse, Meyerowitz-like romanticism, and Maier-like mystery. But what I believe distinguished my work from another street photographers work is that my work is based in LA - an undershot and misrepresented city, with it's masses and unique culture left in the shadows as fabricated Marvel movies and sexy action explosion movies are filmed and projected onto the eyes of the world. No disrespect to Hollywood, but I have realized that there is an undeniable vacuum left here - story's to be told, characters to be written and talked about, experiences to be empathized with, laughed with (or maybe even at,) and neighborhoods, people, and moments to be remembered - proof of a relatively short, bleak and irrelevant existence, proof to be remembered, thought of, and loved. In many ways, my photography is largely an existential outlet, an exercise to cope with my existence, in an abstraction and as a physical being. A constant collaboration with my environment - constantly judging, critiquing, hating, and loving. My admiration stems from this spectrum of emotions.

And I realize that once I'd be hundreds and hundreds of rolls into shooting for this project, this would soon be a reflection of my subconscious state more so than my conscious state, as I found myself fighting to reflect what I created in my head, as I'd be constantly disappointed that one can never perfectly articulate what is on their mind - in words or through photos, drawings, music, etc., whereas letting my subconscious go was far from being a strenuous task. And in this incoherent three year long subconscious ramble, pushing aside any expectation or desire, I found that I would create some sort of thematic unity, as a pure flow of inner thought made tangible through something like 64,000 35mm frames could yield some sort of consistency. Or so I hope.

Selecting the photos has been tough. I've been looking at this zine a few times a week, but it takes time to understand which photos should be paired together and which should be shown alone. Especially because these are living, breathing documents I'm working with. What they mean now in 2020 will be entirely different than what they mean in 2050. These photographs reflect a one of one description of a time and place. In the moment, especially with our innate numbness to instant digital cameras like our phones, we often forget this. Only upon reflection do we realize this, as you and me probably have, going through our parents photographs of them in highschool, college, early lives - a relatively shitty photo of a woman then may reflect a lost and nostalgic aesthetic of colors that we don't see anymore, of clothing, make up and hair styles that have been out of style for decades, etc. Who knows what will be interesting to look at decades from now. Because of this, I try to exist in 2050, thinking of what can be interesting now to someone from then. As I shoot, sometimes I pretend to be a person from 2050 who gets to spend one day in 2020. But yes, theme - I suppose everything that makes LA, LA - materialism, poverty vs affluence, desperation, politics, love; to be and to love, struggle, absurdity, chaos, energy, mundane beauty, irony, humour, etc. If I can check half of these boxes I think I'll feel good about this work.

ADM: Where does the name "you, me, we, them" come from? Is there a particular image, or set of images in the zine that explain the title?

AS: "You, me, we, them" comes from how I feel about being an entity. Kind of what I said in my last answer. I struggle with existing. I'm constantly fidgeting, anxious, thinking about the next moment or the moment before, what I don't have in the moment. Also being a physical being who can affect someone else is weird to me. And photography has been some sort of escape of the physical realm to me. I can kind of dissolve. Capturing fleeting moments, rarely being noticed. In a thick crowd just one of thousands, what do I matter? So this title is kind of an analysis of that idea, my relationship with others, and myself, mentally and physically.

I've actually had a hard time trying to think of one image that encapsulates this idea. I don't think that I've made it yet. A lot of them are close, but not quite there. Mostly because of how I've divided this work up by location - oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the zine is in like four chapters; Hollywood, Downtown, Santa Monica, and miscellaneous - because LA is so sprawled out, I've shot designated locations with high people density to kind of carry over what I learned from NYC photographers and apply it to LA. But it's really different out here and needs to be shot in it's own way which is what I'm realizing right now. That will require more space and desolation, and an isolation of subject matter. Less chaos. I can pick photos that describe my feelings about one specific location, but not about all of LA. But I hope that the collection of all of these photographs, in the sequence that they'll be in can spell that out.

ADM: That's definitely a broad statement of being - what's next or what's the next project after you wrap up the finalized book? Or will you continue to shoot and collect another collection, without direct regard for a project?

AS: I'm not too sure honestly. My LA street work has consumed so many years and I was just forced to wrap it up given the coronavirus situation. I think it would feel wrong to keep the project going since we are completely rethinking our social and commuting habits. This is a moment of great change and the street won’t look as it did for a very long time. Not to say I’m done taking street photographs, but I think I will be wrapping up this particular street project. I’m intending to publish this zine now, and in maybe twenty years I'll try and publish this work in a serious book, that way I can give these photographs the gift of time to evolve and mature into whatever context that 20 years could create.

Since covid broke out, I started working on a new project that looks at LA's urban color palette and geometry. I started riding my bike everyday since traffic has died down, and I've been lugging around my heavy 6x7 camera in my backpack which seriously sucks so I hope that I've been producing some strong images. It's kind of this blend of street and landscape photography. I've never felt connected to landscape photography because I've never felt familiar with nature, but what I've realized is that all photographs describe concretely are lines, shapes, and colors, and any deeper meaning about emotion or whatever is an interpretation which is subjective. But the geometry is what it is, and indisputable. So I've studied some landscape photographers like Shore and Sternfeld, and have gotten drawn in by their composition and occasional ironies. Like the one sternfeld shot of Mount Rushmore with the tangled rack holding satellite dishes in the foreground. That rules. And the firemen walking through a pumpkin patch with a blazing fire in the distance. And Shore's shot of the tiny church in the middle of nowhere. I couldn't believe these photographs when I first saw them because they convey the same feelings I get from Meyerowitz and Winogrand photographs. But they're taken on 8x10 field cameras and fit the category of landscape photos. I've also drawn from classical paintings. There's this one section at the Getty museum that is dedicated to relatively realistic Venetian landscape paintings that are huge and full of crazy detail. I'm into those colors and compositions and infinite depth of field. And what I'm doing draws from those ironies and geometric configurations. Beyond actual subject matter, I'm looking through what I'm shooting and seeing lines and light. I hope it becomes something.

And on my 35mm camera, I've tried shooting a couple of things for fun, nothing as serious as the street work I've worked on for so many years. I've been shooting off my bike, probably with my handle bars in the foreground of whatever catches my eye. I haven't seen any of these images yet so I don't know if it's coherent or anything. Admittedly, I have sometimes been seeing a very small group of friends in these past five months, and I hope that those photographs maybe can radiate a feeling of heightened angst amidst the pandemic, a naivety to thinking we're less at risk or maybe even invincible, teens who are either bored, horny or depressed, yearning for activity, attention, a reason to get out of bed. We're existing in unchartered waters. I don't really know what I'm doing either. I've just turned 19 and am a part of the class of 2020. And taking photos has been a remedy to life's absurdity and my struggles because of. I think I'm OK at it. And this has all been very challenging for me as it has been for all of us. Yet in spite of my mental haze and desperation, I hope my photographs carry a theme and coherency.

ADM: What was your shooting process like? and did it change over the three and a half years you compiled this body of work over?

AS: The shooting process started with a digital camera that I actually bought with my bar mitzvah money at age 13 ; I used that for something like 4 years, until my dad showed me his old Nikon Nikkormat SLR with a 24mm prime (what I still use today.) Then I took a Darkroom Photography course at SVA in NYC one summer and was properly introduced to film. So I shot exclusively black and white for a while, doing my own developing and printing, not scanning anything, keeping it entirely analog. Then I eventually became curious to explore color and started to digitize my work. That was the summer of 2018 when I felt like I developed the foundational skill that is necessary. Since then I've done something like 1800 rolls probably, all in LA. That's like 64,800 photographs, and I'm selecting only 80 or 100, which at most is only like 0.0015 of the photographs I've made since shooting film. God only knows how many digital photos came before and also during then.

ADM: You speak quite a bit about documenting Los Angeles - how did you get there (are you a native angeleno?), and what inspires you to document the city? What have you discovered in your photos?

AS: Yeah, I'm from LA. Born and raised! I've always been frustrated over LA's misrepresentation which also inspired me to do something about it. The superficiality that this city is advertised to be is not really what it is. I've only known of an authentic LA. I grew up in Los Feliz which is wedged in between Thai Town and Little Armenia in the East Hollywood area. When I was 14, I realized that the camera could be used as a weapon against that, to describe how authentic and beautiful this city really is when you don't buy into the Hollywood and Kardashian crap. I also wanted to show the world, or at least my Instagram followers what other Angelenos look like. Not just Tom Cruise and Kim K., but those of us who keep this city running. The jewelry store worker in Downtown. The tourists in Hollywood. The street performers on the Pier. These people have never had a spotlight and I have tried to give them one in a sense.

ADM: You mention a broad gathering of influences - is there something, a thread, that unites them, and how do you relate to your influences?

AS: I think that my influences are united by character. If they're distinct and also funny or ironic. Winogrand, Meyerowitz, Levitt, Sternfeld, Friedlander, Cohen, these photographers took strong photographs that were also sometimes funny. There's often a tension that exists, either in composure, or color, or emotion. And in paintings, I see lines and colors as I do in photographs. So to me they're basically the same thing, except that to make a photograph you are deconstructing the world around you and in a painting you are constructing from the world around you.

ADM: Jumping on that - your work largely seems to fit into the Street Photography tradition - what is Street Photography to you, and more generally, what is Photography to you?

AS: Like Winogrand once said, I feel like the term "street photography" is pretty silly. It doesn't tell you anything about the picture or the work. But the values that are attached to street photography are mostly akin to that of photojournalism; truth, grit, transparency, humanity, empathy. I like those traits and look to recreate them. But I feel that street photography is less serious than photojournalism, so I also look for those humorous aspects. On a broader note, photography is a reason. A reason to live at the very least, a reason to go out, a reason to be in that area or to step through those doors into that room, a reason to be present, a reason to think about your placement in the world, a reason to think about where you stand in society and your relationship to your peers and neighbors. A reason to think of where we come from historically and a reason to feel obligated to be an informed citizen of the world. A reason to be empathetic to others, a reason to be concerned about politics and the state of the world and humanity. And in today's climate, I think that we all need to be politically engaged, for environmental reasons, for humanitarian reasons, for ethical reasons.

ADM: So, this is part curiosity of my own, but that's a ton of film to shoot, I know that shooting on film and digital don't really line up on an even ratio, but how do you shoot such a high volume? or what keeps you shooting at such a high volume?

AS: I have tried to shoot less but I can't. I think it'd be better to shoot less. Henry Wessel, a really amazing and renowned San Francisco photographer spent his lifetime shooting SF but he never "went out to take photos." Rather, he went about his day, driving and running errands, doing whatever he does and he carried his camera with him and created an incredible body of work. Whereas with me, I am always searching for photos. There isn't really a moment where it isn't at the front of my mind. I think that this causes me to shoot a lot but also causes me to kind of go insane, my practice is like a never ending search for something that doesn't actually exist, this search for meaning, for clarity. I think to put it into relative terms for someone who isn't a photographer, I feel like there is a word I'm trying to use that I can't remember, and it's on the tip of my tongue, forever. And at every opportunity trying to rephrase what I mean, I can't quite do it. It's this restlessness that keeps me going. Even with my favorite photographs that I've made, I feel like I've missed the mark by a tad, I think I only have like five photographs I've ever taken where I feel like I described exactly what I wanted to.

ADM: What's your key tip on shooting so much, and what key advice would you give to someone about throwing themselves deep into photography?

AS: I can only speak on behalf of my experiences, but what's kept me going is my own frustrations. Aside from photography, I've always had a hard time saying what I mean; with my parents and friends, also especially in past relationships that admittedly still live and rot in my conscious. I hate to say this but I am one to replay scenarios in my head over and over again, getting that last word in, or dwelling on the hypotheticals if something would’ve gone differently. The act of making photographs has been therapeutic in many ways and particularly with this - to spend so much time on one particular moment at a sliver of a second - shooting, developing, scanning, printing, reviewing, etc, it is comforting to become 100% familiar and comfortable with a moment that I lived in. I also had a few tough years from age 14 to 16 where I lived in the suburbs and completely shut down socially. There was like a three month window where I got back on my feet but I quickly stumbled again as I had completely lost myself and most of anything that I found desirable in my life. But while three years isn't very long generally, when you're 15 it is, and my photography is a blatant act where I'm trying to overcorrect for those years lost. Memories that I could've had, trouble I could’ve got in, photographs I could’ve made, friends I could've had, girls I could've loved, etc. I've tried to overwhelm my time now and these coming years. Third, I can't sit still, I need to be out seeing and breathing and living and feeling or I get really antsy and depressed, I think this is an effect of feeling like I've lost time. Lastly, for existential reasons, life is short and I want something to show, a proof of my own existence and of others existence in this otherwise short and bleak world. I, like most others, hope to leave something behind, and the idea of leaving behind a book or prints or some photographic documentation describing what this moment and people and environment and city looked and felt like is really enticing to me.

ADM: From David Gilbert Wright: If you could travel back in time, which photographer from history would you most like to interview for this magazine, and why?

AS: Tough question, probably Vivian Maier since there is practically no information on her!

ADM: What question do you have for the next photographer? you can answer it yourself if you'd like.

AS: What drives you to take photos, rather than making films or writing or expressing yourself in another way?

ADM: Where can we pick up copies of the zine and book? Also where can we see more of your work, and do you have any parting words or advice?

AS: You can reserve a copy for the zine by contacting me through Instagram @advli or through my email, adalischell@gmail.com. I might set up a thing on my site to buy one but I want to keep it personal, I like the idea of the person coming directly through me than through a website where they don't actually read my own words that I've personally typed out with my own thumbs specially for them. I also have two photographs being published in the book "To Live & Cry in LA" which is being produced by 35m Pro, a lab out in Sherman Oaks, with work consisting of 60-something LA photographers who documented the height of the BLM movement. That is currently being produced and should be made available to purchase sometime soonish.

Hi, If you’ve read this far - thanks for reading! Typically we’d stump for donations to the website to keep it up, but in light of the ongoing unrest in the states we’d encourage you to donate to a cause of your choosing instead. This whole thing is a link to a linktree.

Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo: Dustin Davis

May 24, 2020 in interview

Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo: Dustin Davis

Andrew D. McClees (ADM): For those who aren't familiar with you, could you please introduce yourself and give us an overview of your work?

Dustin Davis (DD): My name is Dustin Davis, based out of Fort Worth, Texas. I’ve been hobby shooting for about 10 years. As of the last year, year and a half (after moving to Texas), I’m attempting to make a more serious effort into creating work that matters to me. When I made the move to Texas, my inspiration came from the feeling of insignificance in a place that was much larger than I’m used to.

ADM: What was the impetus to document the Rodeo and Stock Show?

DD: I have always had an an interest in subcultures, as a whole. Growing up, my family and I were big into the BMX racing scene. We lived and breathed it. Interestingly enough, the stock show reminded me a lot of our time racing BMX.

Moving here, I knew what a rodeo was. I didn’t know what exactly the stock show portion of the event was though. Many people suggested to go to the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. It was a culture shock for me, to say the least. I think that’s what caused my desire to document it. I’m an outsider, taking in all sights, sounds and smells.

ADM: That's really interesting - did you ever shoot/or document the BMX racing scene when you were in it? also, as someone who's not super familiar with BMX or Rodoes - can you flesh out the similarities for me? Also, if you did document or photograph the BMX races, did you find your approach changing much if at all either due to time and experience, and subject matter when you started to work on the rodeo?

DD: I raced BMX when I was about 12-15(ish), and at that age I had no interest in photography. I was too obsessed with my bicycles. There wasn’t a lot of direct similarities between the two, but the main one was how much of a family event it is. There’s an overall feeling of friendly competition too. And the actual showing of the animal, reminds me of the race itself (just a little slower paced ha). Mind you, this is more of the stock show portion of the event, not so much the rodeo.

ADM: So far the images from the Rodeo that I've seen have all been in black and white. Why black and white over color, and will you continue the project in only black and white?

DD: I debated color vs black and white or even mixing the two before continuing this year. I had started it using black and white and wasn’t sure if including color would help or hurt the project. There is not a lot of color at the events (except the Escaramuza event), so I’m not sure the viewer would be missing out on much. Alternatively, there’s something about black and white that fits this subject matter.

ADM: That's tracks, the photos you have look really great, and it's really cohesive - that said, do you think you'd go back and do a separate section in color on the Escaramuza section?

DD: Thank you! I could see doing that. But I feel I would separate that work from the Stock Show work itself. It would be really great to get some more behind the scenes if I went that direction. Definitely portraits, since all of their dresses are so bright and detailed. I think accessibility would be more challenging for the Escaramuza work though.

ADM: Following that, most of the photos I've seen of the project so far have been fairly topographic or street leaning, and you mention an interest in doing portraits of the people involved - do you have a feeling of how you'd like to do those portraits, or what form you'd like them to take, in context with the rest of the photos you've shot so far?

DD: The portraits would ideally spur of the moment requests of people at the stock show. I’d have to get over the whole fear of approaching a random stranger first. But I just don’t want to overthink it. Some of Louis Carlos Bernal’s portraits resonate with me (his Barrio work is on my ‘to buy’ list) in regards to context of current photos.

ADM: What do you think the eventual scope of the project will be, and what form do you think it will take, and why? Also will you document other rodeos/stock shows, or is the project strictly focused on the DFW Stock Show/Rodeo?

DD: I know people may have negative feelings about stock shows. My documenting is not about being for or against the showing and selling of animals - I just want to share my experience. At some point, I would like to make a zine or small book of the work. I really don’t know when that will be though. I feel this will be a long term project so that will play into any final piece. I do plan on documenting as many as possible. There is really only two that are near me, so I need to be realistic on how much time I am able to invest into actually going to the stock shows. I would like to including portraits of people involved in the stock shows as well.

ADM: Just for context, for me, a yankee - Are the stock shows a regular event, and sometimes separate from the rodeo? I know Houston's rodeo is annual, but I'm not terribly familiar with the practice, beyond that.

DD: The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is every year in January. There’s one a little north of me that happens in August (I think). I’m guessing most of the other major cities in Texas have one every year. From what I gather, the these big events include the stock show and rodeo. The rodeos are the big event at night, while the stock show happens during the day. There are probably smaller stock shows scattered around that don’t have a rodeo event.

ADM: What were some of the main influences on you for this project, photographic or otherwise?

DD: Tough one here. I think the main influence for this would be just the fact that this culture is so foreign to me and I’m fascinated by what’s all involved.

ADM: I'd love to see the zine or book when it's out - what format do you think it'll take, or what do you think the big sections of the book will look like?

DD: You’ll be the first to know about a zine or book! I’ve never created a book (or really put focus into a project like this), so culling and editing the images to flow well will be new for me. At this stage, I’m seeing the images as more of vignettes of the stock show culture and that’s what it could end up staying.

ADM: For someone in the middle of relocating - either to a completely new environment, or a quasi-familiar one, what advice would you have for documenting that (or an unfamiliar event like you have), and adapting to it?

DD: Embrace the experience. For me, the new environment opened me up to enjoying film again, creating work that I enjoy and work that is for me. Without relocating to Texas, i wouldn’t have been able to start this stock show project. I didn’t expect for other people to be all that interested in the topic, so I am excited to document it, for myself.

ADM: From Adrian Otero Vila: If you could go back in time and stand next to a photographer when they were making an image, which one would it be?

DD: Pulling out the tough questions, Adrian! I’m going to say three photographers. First, Matt Eich’s zebra image from Carry Me Ohio, Edward S. Curtis’ Canyon De Chelly, or Gordon Parks’ Negro Woman in her Bedroom.

ADM: What's one question you have for the next photographer? you can answer it yourself if you'd like?

DD: What’s something you’ve learned in the past year?

As I mentioned above, create work for yourself. When you enjoy making the work for you, it will show through in the work itself. We all want to find our audience, but that will come naturally.

Someone recently shared this quote from Alec Soth‘s Magnum course: ‘We all kind of know pictures that other people like , that our friends like, that would get us likes on Instagram... but what you need to do is make work that doesn’t succeed, that takes you to a new place and eventually that’ll find its audience.

ADM: Where can we see more of your work?

DD: Right now, Instagram @_digitaldust. I’m currently working on culling work and updating my website at http://www.dustindavisphoto.com

Coast to Coast: Charlie Thom

May 03, 2020 in interview

Coast to Coast: Charlie Thom

Andrew D. McClees (ADM): For those who may not be familiar with your work, can you please introduce yourself, and give an overview or introduction to your work?

Charlie Thom (CT): I'm Charlie, a 20-year-old film photographer and university student from Sussex, UK. I have a love for old cameras and visiting new places. I like to think my style of shooting is just "photograph whatever comes to mind". I've never seen myself as having a style as such, but every photographer captures their scene in unique ways and I'm no exception. During my gap year in 2019, I tried and travel as many places as I can as cheaply as possible, and it's taken me on some really memorable adventures. I visited a few places, including Chernobyl where I produced the content for my previous zine, The Nuclear Option, and the USA and Canada, where I produced the content for Coast to Coast.

ADM: We're here talking about Coast to Coast today - what's the concept behind the zine, what was the impetus to put it into a book format?

CT: In August 2019 I travelled to North America for 3 weeks visiting 5 coastal cities, my first time alone in a foreign country with a big bag full of snacks, clothes and cameras to keep me company. While I was there, I knew I wanted to have a final product made out of the pictures I took there but wasn't quite sure what form it would take. I find that happens a lot with my zines and books. I go out, focus on the pictures and then worry about presentation and narrative when I get my pictures back. I feel that way, you tend to stress a lot less about all the little details and just enjoy exploring new places.

ADM: What was the image selection process like for Coast to Coast? Did the images create the book, or did you work backwards from your body of photos?

CT: I didn't realise just quite how many pictures I'd taken until I'd got back and stared at the 700+ frames in Lightroom after hours of processing and scanning. I figured it would be a big, big project to make a zine out of, so I was going to wait till the summer to start working on it - that's when the outbreak occurred, and I thought I should finish it now before it got shelved forever. I thinned these pictures down to just over 70 and it had enough pages to be a paperback book, so I went full steam ahead and designed a pdf for a 66 page photobook. My last project, The Nuclear Option, had a text-based narrative that I felt worked really well due to its historical nature and the short time span I took the pictures in. With this one though, there isn't really much to say - I felt if I captioned a whole book just with stories about myself, it wouldn't be about the pictures anymore. The sheer number of pictures also meant I could divide the book into chapters, one for each city I visited. I think this really breaks up the story nicely and gives it a nice narrative without the use of text.

ADM: What was the specific impetus for your trip to North America, what made you choose the destinations you chose; and how does your book tell or document the trip?

CT: There were a few reasons for choosing America as the destination for my travels: I think the sheer scale of everything is something that really drew me in. The massive sprawling cities and eccentric characters really fascinated me. I'd been to the USA a couple of times before with family, but never had a proper chance to explore on my own and go on a proper adventure. The fact that everyone speaks English too is also a huge help. I chose to visit New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Seattle because they're some of the continent's biggest most interesting coastal cities. If my budget had been a bit bigger, I would love to have visited New Orleans or Portland (while strictly that isn't a coastal city, I guess West Coast still counts), but I was cutting as many corners as I could and had to let them go. Coast to Coast tells the story through chapters. Each chapter is headed with a scan of a Polaroid with a significant landmark in each city, something I already really wanted to do just so I could put them in my print albums. When I got home, I'd realised those Polaroids would be great to break up the book into specific segments and give the project's narrative a bit more structure. I captured everything else that caught my eye on my 1951 Leica iiif on whatever film I could get my hands on - colour and b&w stocks of various brands, expired film, etc. My friend Italo very generously gave me a big bag of assorted film when I met up with him in New York (Thanks Italo!). I shot a lot of street but also landscapes too if my surroundings allowed it. I tried my best to tell stories with each picture, and I feel each chapter really has its own distinctive, unique flavour.

ADM: Following that up, were there any big moments that stood out to you, or "clicked" the book into place when you finally did sit down in front of your scanner?

CT: I learned a lot of things about the United States and its people/culture throughout the whole of this trip. It was very insightful, almost enlightening, to see how different everything is to how it's portrayed on television. To actually see America in person was truly something special, and the people I met along the way were probably the best part of the whole experience. I also learned a lot about myself, how I overcame problems like having my flight home cancelled while I was there, and having to spend 4 hours on a bus through Compton and arriving at LAX airport covered in bleeding bug bites, or missing my Greyhound bus and hitching a free ride on another bus because the driver was a super cool guy. There always seemed to be solutions to the challenges I faced, and I think I got some really good adventures out of some of them. When I got back from the States, I was going to move into my university halls 2 days after I landed, and I don't think I've ever processed and scanned that much film in such a small span of time in my entire life. I also learned how to create a proper scanning and editing workflow, with this amount of film it's near impossible to sort through all the pictures and pick out the best images unless you have a good workflow setup.

ADM: What did you learn, either about your trip, or your photography while editing the book?

ADM: In terms of influence - what would you say your biggest influences on the project were, photographic or otherwise?

CT: Inspiration came from a wide variety of people for this one! I drew influence from a few great zines I have such as Useful Idiocy by Jules Le Moal, Reason for Visit by Nicolas Hagen, Enter Barcelona by Nigel Allison/unevenedits and Zoeld by Illia Popovich, as well as a few others. I also drew inspiration from a few of the classic American photographers of the 20th century: Robert Frank, W. Eugene Smith etc. I also got a lot of advice and second opinions during the production of the book from close friends and fellow photographers, which I'm eternally grateful for!

ADM: I find it a really interesting choice that all of the images are titled, what prompted you to title all your images, and was it difficult to title them?

CT: I've always had a fascination with titles - while I made the choice not to write out all my stories and experiences and focus more on presenting the pictures themselves, I still wanted to give the viewer my own impression of the picture to give it a bit of a personal touch. Another reason I added a black stroke and title on the images was to make the book feel like a miniature gallery. I based most of the captions for the pictures off my Instagram posts, but I changed some of them if they didn't fit the frame well. Presentation to me is one of the biggest parts of producing a zine or book, and I wanted it to feel a bit fancier than my previous works. You'll notice there isn't a single double page spread. While there were pictures I really wanted to print nice and big, I felt it wouldn't be doing them justice if a large portion of the frame was lost to the fold.

ADM: For someone on the fence about making a big, multi stop trip, in a very unfamiliar place - as well as documenting it - what advice would you give?

CT: Don't stress too much! It's not an adventure if you aren't lost. Try not to plan every last detail, just make sure you can get to and from your destination(s), have a place to stay, and have enough money in case anything goes wrong. The best adventures I had on this trip weren't planned, they just happened as I was out exploring the area. It was quite daunting at first when I was planning everything, but once I had everything booked it was really easy from there.

ADM: From Sadie Rose Bailey by way of Sam Lloyd: What other creative outlets do you pursue? And what does it bring you that photography doesn’t?

CT: I really don't have any other creative outlets! I can't draw or play any instruments, my co-ordination is absolutely terrible. I adore photographing bands though. I think being able to photograph a band is the next best thing to being in one. I'm doing a Media Production degree at the moment so I do have some video/audio production experience, and I know my way around photoshop. I also collect records and have a Hi-Fi setup in my bedroom, which has become the saviour of my quarantine lifestyle at the moment.

ADM: What question do you have for the next photographer? You can answer your own question if you'd like.

CT: Do you have any projects planned after this one? Spill the beans! If this lockdown ends before the summer and I can get a decent amount of shifts before the summer, I really want to travel Scandanavia, especially Norway and Finland.

ADM: Where can people see your work, and purchase your zine?

CT: You can find me on Instagram @charliethom_ or on Facebook at @charliethomphoto. My zine is available through my Etsy shop, a link is available through my Instagram bio. You can also search "charliethom" on Etsy and find my shop that way too.

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Hiroshima Legacy Project: David Chao

March 07, 2020 in interview

Hiroshima Legacy Project: David Chao

Andrew D. McClees (ADM): For those unfamiliar with you, can you introduce yourself, and talk a little bit about your photowork and practice outside Hiroshima Road Trip and Instagram?

David Chao (DC): A little bit about me, I am David Chao and I am a half Japanese and half Chinese American born and raised between San Francisco and Kobe, Japan.

I studied Product Design in college, and photography became a big passion of mine on the side. I started off learning in the school darkroom in an intro photography class, and then spent 2 years serving as a lab assistant and teaching other students. Teaching others skills or knowledge I have is something I enjoy quite fondly, and today I still serve as an adjunct lecturer at Stanford in Design Research, essentially a class focused on how to do ethnographic design research.

I used to shoot digitally on the side quite a bit, but my love for photography emerged in 2016 when I took my first film photography class. Something about the physical tangibility of using chemicals and making prints with my hands turned me into a lover of film. I currently shoot 35mm, medium, and large format. For me each film type serves a different purpose, and I don’t particularly like one over the other. I feel I am still exploring all the different ways film and cameras can be used to capture what I love.

My projects, or more serious projects, have all revolved around shooting in Japan. For me the biggest aspect is being both an insider and outsider gives me a unique perspective. I spent years growing up culturally between Japan and the US, and so I know enough about the inner thinking and culture to recognize certain behaviors. But at the same time, I am very much American, and that gives me foresight into being able to view scenes or actions taken from an outsider’s perspective. This to me has made photography projects in Japan as one’s that feel like the most genuine.

I tend not to post my most important or favorite work on Instagram. The reason being is Instagram was always just a way for me to find like minded people who enjoyed photography, not as a medium to share it. Over time I have loved the community of people I have met.

ADM: What was the inspiration for the project?

DC: After graduating from Stanford University in 2018 with a degree in Engineering -Product Design, I set out to capture a project I titled the “Hiroshima Legacy Project”. Using a 4x5 View Camera the goal of this project was to document the people of smaller towns all around Hiroshima Prefecture. Given the urban migration and the aging population, lots of small towns and even small cities in Hiroshima prefecture are starting to slowly die out.

The inspiration for this project began in the summer of 2017, a day after my sister’s 12th birthday party, my grandmother Toshiko passed away in her home. Toshiko was born to Soichi and Kumayo Morimoto of Hiroshima on September 10, 1930 in Watsonville, California, where she grew up with her six siblings until World War II. In 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, and the government imprisoned the Morimoto family, including teenaged Toshiko and her siblings, in concentration camps – first in Poston, Arizona, then in Tule Lake, California. After the war, the US government repatriated the Morimoto family to Hiroshima. In her memory, I wanted to create a photographic essay capturing stories and faces of Hiroshima.

Along the way she picked up a hobby of photography and always had a camera with her. One of the reasons I decided to take a film photography class at Stanford was to be able to share some common experiences with her and her passion for art in general. The summer before my senior year of college my grandmother had passed away after fighting illness for many years. Before she had passed, she rounded up lots of old film and gathered all the older film cameras she had collected. While many of them do not work, one of my favorite cameras of all time was a Yashica T4 Super Zoom.

While in the midst of going over my future, finishing up my degree in Engineering - Product Design, and applying for jobs, I began to formulate a year long project following my graduation from Stanford. The first stage of that project was creating a darkroom space/studio to promote the photographic arts. Whether it’s just with family and friends, or eventually something more open to the local SF community, I wanted to create a space in her memory. The second stage is this upcoming project to travel to the rural and countryside communities of Japan and capture them before they completely fade away.

ADM: I've noticed that all of the photos you post on instagram of the Road Trip are numbered of 360. What's the significance of 360?

DC: I shot 10 rolls of provia100f on the road trip casually, so these are really more works from me just having fun with photography.

The real work from the road trip was 4x5 portrait shots, which I have only posted infrequently and rarely actually on Instagram. I can send you that in person, as I think those would be more interesting to post.

ADM: Is the road trip part of or related to a bigger or different body of work you're working on?

DC: I think for me right now the biggest thing is I want to be able to document culture and people in a meaningful way. For me what I like to capture hopefully tells a story, and my goal is to make this a foundation for a bigger project in the future.

For myself the biggest lesson I learned is: I don’t know as much as I thought I did.

One, I want to continue to improve my technique as a photographer. I felt that there were moments where I was limited on how I could capture a scene based off inexperience.

Two, I want to learn how to connect with people better and be more assertive in the field. This is something that I have been getting experience with at work currently. I work at a design research firm and as part of projects we conduct 3 hour long ethnographic style in-home interviews. This is perfect training for being able to guide with the right level of authority, but also dig for information in order to create a great photograph. It’s a little unorthodox, but it is something I am excited to try and translate to other mediums in the future.

ADM: In the past you've posted historic or archival photos that your grandmother took -- I find them really fascinating. How did you get into that, and have you had any favorite images from those archives, and any that you find really interesting, historically?

DC: When my grandmother passed, one of the biggest projects was cleaning out her stuff. She was a massive hoarder, but we found all these beautiful prints she had just buried under boxes. She was an artist, so she did lots of painting and photography, so as a family initiative, we had all her stuff framed and archived properly.

My favorite is the 8x10 contact print of the Atomic Bomb Dome (原爆ド一ム) in the late 1950s by my grandmother Toshiko. This is a super old print from the 1950s so there is natural yellowing of the paper. My grandmother most likely took this photo in her mid 20s. Hiroshima was a very important place for my family as many relatives were lost to the bomb and following WWII internment in the US my grandmother’s family moved back to the rebuilding community in Hiroshima. I’ve been to the peace memorial on multiple occasions and my pictures of the dome definitely are nowhere near as good as this. I am 95% sure that a Large Format View Camera was used as the top of the dome is extremely sharp while the bottom loses some focus, which is usually attributed to Large Format Camera movements.

With the other prints I like from her collection, it's more about what the Japan she grew up with looked like. I love old and rustic prints because when you really think about them, the people in those scenes saw the world like we do today, in color and in HD. It’s just that the tools didn’t exist for us to be able to capture it like we can actually see it. So my attachment for me is just I love to close my eyes and just try and imagine what the world was like back then.

ADM: For those of us unfamiliar with Hiroshima, can you describe the area (culturally and topographically), and talk about what the documentation process was like?

DC: Hiroshima is a unique prefecture of Japan, and it is shaped by its unique relationship with both modern history and land.

There is historical significance of the main city of Hiroshima given the devastation of the Atomic Bomb during WWII. While often the scars of war haunt an area long after, Hiroshima instead stands as a beacon of world peace. The revitalization of the city was unprecedented, and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial stands as a pillar of hope. Unlike other Japanese cities, where there might be remnants of an older world, Hiroshima is truly a modern city given that it had to rebuild itself in a post WWII era.

There is also a significance given the wide variation of its topography. Hiroshima blends both its island like feel in the south, with fishing ports and local fishing, with its extreme monotonous terrains in the North. While many Japanese prefectures share a relationship between land and sea, what makes Hiroshima unique to me is the sheer contrast between the sea and the mountains. Thus, when exploring the area and to capture an accurate view of the prefecture, one as to open itself up to the idea of the broad reaching implications of such a wide topographic spread.

The documentation process was a mixture of thoughtful planning and spontaneous decisions. I would never plan more than 5-7 days out, as weather and new learnings would shape the next steps of the journey. As I started to map out my route, I initially was planning to also explore other prefectures to more depth, but ended up spending 80% of my time focused on Hiroshima. One of the really difficult balances I had to negotiate with myself was how much time could I spend just enjoy traveling to new places versus focuses on the project itself. I began to think of this trip more like I would a job. I have a couple of set outcomes that I wanted to see through, and was responsible to myself to complete, but there were also times to relax and enjoy a breather here and there.

Traveling with 30 boxes of 4x5 film is also not an easy task. The key to making it all work was to make sure to be organized and follow the same routine every night and morning. Before arriving to any lodging, the first thing I would so is make sure all my gear was organized. That means camera is put away, film tend is packed up, and anything I planned to leave in the car was covered up. I would carry three bags with me into the hotel, a duffle of clothes, my backpack carry my 4x5 View Camera, and a small bag carrying enough new film to change out. After check in, before even showering or washing up for dinner, I would change out any film I had shot and make sure all my gear was ready for the next day. While this routine and strictness might seem psychopathic, the reason why I maintained this so closely was because it led to minimal mistakes. And the minute the routine was finished, I could spend my evenings relaxing, reflecting, and recovering for the next day.

Loneliness is the greatest enemy when traveling alone. For those who haven’t traveled for great lengths of times by themselves, it is a feeling that you have to get used to. I had prior experience working on a research project alone for 10 weeks, which helped me cope with the extensive feelings of being isolated and without accompaniment. The cruelest person to yourself is yourself. There is moments of doubt that can creep into the sub-conscience. At the same time, traveling alone is a blessing. The freedom to be so engrossed in your own thoughts and be so disconnected from the world around you is hard to get. I tell people, the voice in your head can be both your friend and enemy, but it is all about how you frame it. I often can’t hear myself very loudly until I am alone for 2 weeks. Then the voice rings loud and clear, and allows for honest and open dialogue with oneself.

ADM: When you started the Hiroshima Legacy Project, did you find that your thesis or findings changed as you've gotten deeper into the project, did you have a thesis going in, or has the whole project been a strict document?

DC: The main premise for this process was to create a project that would help me not only connect back to my ancestral roots, but also create a meaningful project to explore and learn about cultural nuances. During this course of brainstorming I was torn by which direction I should move in, as I was fascinated by a couple different areas.

The first area I wanted to understand was the Akiya housing crisis that was taking place in the more rural regions of Japan. This was not only a point of interest based of research, I had made observations in many past trips to Japan that there seemed to be many abandoned homes not just in the country side, but also in the outer parts of cities. The second area I wanted to understand was what the daily life was like for people living the countryside of Japan. My conception of Japan had been limited to the confines of Osaka and Kobe. I heard stories of the countryside from my extended family, but I personally had never familiarized myself to it. I want to experience it on my own terms to gain empathy and understanding of what life was like in those regions. The third area was I wanted to just see Japan through new fresh eyes. Being so familiar with a place can numb you to the beauty that exists. I wanted to see Japan in a new light and framed this project as a way to do so.

Ultimately the outcomes of this project was flexible. I actually didn’t know if I wanted to capture photos of people or photos of the environment when I first started this project. It wasn’t until a fateful encounter of the very first day of the project that I had made up my mind about it. To give some context, I come from a background of human-centered design; essentially design framed through the lens of building empathy with others. One of the key concepts is this idea of doing proper need finding. Need finding focuses on design research and design planning. The premise is that by studying the world around us, we can get a better understanding of what people need, and use those insights to create meaningful ways to think about a concept differently. Need finding draws upon theory and methods from anthropology, psychology, engineering and design planning. Yet my intial concept of this project didn’t have speaking and talking with people be the central focus of the project. My failure in all of this was I was too cocky and thought that I had enough information to conduct a successful project without the bounds of getting to know others.

On the first day of the project I drove off into a ditch on a mountain road. This was totally 100% my fault for being naive about driving in Japan. One, the steering wheel was on the other side of the car. The second, mountain roads in Japan are narrow and tricky. I was distraught, in disbelief, and thought the project was going to end on the very first day. Luckily, right behind me was a mother who was on her way home from grocery shopping. She helped me call a tow truck and waited with me for over an hour until it arrived. We spoke about what life was like in Shiso and Hyogo Prefecture. It was during this conversation that I realized I was arrogant to think I could capture a place without understanding the people that lived there. Sure, I could take photos of trees and rivers that would print beautifully, but there would be no substance. Later that day, the very first photo of this project turned out to be a shot of a man working on his field in a tractor. He had on a SF giants baseball cap, and it turned out his daughter had moved to SF. He was so excited that he called her up and we spoke over the phone. I am not religious, but if there was a sign from God this was it. From then, I decided this project was going to be about people.

ADM: I know the goal of the Project was to document the current citizens and places of the prefecture, but did you end up documenting some of the effects of the population decline? if so, or if you want to speak on it, what did you find?

DC: The biggest learning I had throughout this project was the joy that people in these areas continue to have. I see the city culture of Japan to be depressing in many ways. The youth drink themselves in their sorrow and misery in the harsh working culture. In contrast, the countryside may be “dying off”, but the relationships people share with each other continue to be beacons of light in the area. I am not naive to ignore the fact that the population of the countryside and the towns are slowly fading away. In terms of population decline, I also shot many sheets of BW 4x5 film. These shots captured more of the sorrow and decline of the region. Many of these photos consist of abandoned homes, abandoned hotels, or even abandoned shops. The sad truth is that these areas are slowly disappearing, and the signs were prevalent wherever I went. I think part of my desire to continue to work on this project was to capture what would be lost before it is too late.

The effects of the decline I noticed that had me the most saddened was the effects it had on communities that once thrived. While of course the abandoned buildings and deserted homes were shocking to witness in person, it was more how empty many central community centers for towns felt. At the same time, I think adversity creates new bonds for people. For example, I spent many days stopping by old elementary schools that had transformed itself into community centers for the elderly. There people from the town would get together to exercise and enjoy each other’s social company. It was a reminder of the power of people and relationships, and will be a lesson I will continue to cherish.

ADM: Will the bigger project - the one you're about to embark on take the form of a book, or an exhibition? Also will the second stage be throughout all of Japan, or continue to focus on Hiroshima Prefecture?

DC: For me right now, I still am trying to figure out what I want to do with all of this work. I feel it is incomplete, and that is probably more to do with me being a perfectionist. I shot these incredible portraits with a 4x5 camera and color film, but I can always see room for improvement. I am still in the process of putting the work together into a more lasting medium. Right now my mind goes to hopefully creating a mini book to share out with people who are interested in it.

In terms of next steps for the project itself, part of my decision to work at a research design firm was to continue to improve my ability to connect with people. I realized that being able to build bridges during a conversation ultimately shaped the outcome of a photo. Where I work now we conduct 3 - 4 hour ethnographic style in home interviews. This is almost like the perfect training ground in order to hone this skill set.

I love photography and continue to practice with the mission of improvement. I hope to gain the confidence to potentially pursue an MFA, but I don’t currently know what is in store for me. I want to continue to document Japan in a unique lens, and I am always thinking about different project ideas to do so.

ADM: What advice would you give to another photographer considering taking on a longer term project? especially one as loaded with history as yours - both personally and globally relevant?

DC: The biggest advice I would give someone is surround yourself with people that care about you and what you are doing. I think it is really easy to get caught in a situation of half a step in, when these projects truly require you to be all in. I wouldn’t be able to make those leaps without having a support system around me of people I know who would have my back.

Beyond just having a good support network, know yourself and what you want to accomplish. What does a successful project look like for me? What do I want to get out of this? What does this all mean? I think these are all questions you have to ask yourself before even getting started and continue to check as you work on a project. If you aren’t taking these steps, then you might get off track of what you truly want to accomplish. Especially if the project is something personal to you, it can feel like a lot of weight to bare. At the end of the day, you can only do what you set your mind to.

Leaving this with one last thought, photography should never feel like it's burdening you when you are working on a personal long term project. Because the minute it is framed as a nuance, then the love of the craft is gone. The entire love of the project can dissipate without it being finished. I don’t have an answer of how to always keep a positive frame, but finding something to help ground yourself is the best piece of advice I have received, so relaying it here.

ADM: Where can we find your work? Do you have any printed projects or exhibitions coming up? Do you have any parting words? Thank you again for doing this interview!

DC: Most of my work is on Instagram and I am slowly putting together my website. I haven’t had the time to put the effort I would like to revamp it, but it is coming I promise.

In terms of printed projects or exhibition right now I am working on getting all these photos together and organized. I think the first priority would be to compile it into either a Zine or a book, so those are the next steps I am currently taking.

For parting words, thanks for doing the interview and it was a great way to collect thoughts in a structure that I hadn’t had before!

FLORA: Adrienne Hulme

February 09, 2020 in interview

FLORA: Adrienne Hulme

Andrew D. McClees (ADM): Hi Adrienne! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview. Could you introduce yourself and describe your photowork?

Adrienne Hulme (AH): Hello, I'm Adrienne, and I live in San Diego now but am originally from Portland, Oregon. I've been taking photos since I was 9 years old, and my purpose in my photography since then has always been to capture the beauty that I see around me. My subject matter is actually rarely people; I usually just take photos of "ordinary" things I see around me, but I like to capture them in a unique way that highlights the beauty in them that others might not notice. I focus a lot on light, textures, angles, and closeups.

ADM: You do a lot with multiple exposures, is that central to the zine? how did you get into doing them?

AH: Yeah so this zine is actually all multiple exposures. It's really the first time that I've made an effort to photograph people; particularly for a personal project. I started wanting to experiment with double exposures when I started getting back into film within the past few years, but since it's film and it's not cheap, I didn't really want to try it if I had no idea how to do it, and waste film. This last year though, I went to The Darkroom Lab's Film Photography Paideia and took a workshop on double exposures with Trev Lee and Aaron Checkwood, and between that and some extra tips from my muse Starla Little, I felt ready to attempt some. Starla is a double exposure queen, and she was also my first model, so she helped me out a ton with the whole process.

ADM: Related to the above -- you shoot a mix of film and digital. Do you find your personal work tends more towards one or the other? If so why.

AH: I definitely shoot mostly film for personal stuff. I started out on film when I was little, but digital cameras were becoming a thing so I switched shortly thereafter, and had been only shooting digital for years. I bought a Mini Diana camera when those were getting popular, but didn't shoot it much because I didn't have a film community in Portland. I bought a Minolta srt-100 at a studio sale a photographer had here in San Diego, still didn't shoot it much for a year, then found Beers and Cameras, got involved with that, and got back into film. I was still shooting a ton of digital all the time, but shooting more film has made me take more time with my shots and slow down a bunch, so I don't shoot as much as I did before. I'm a lot more intentional when I take photos now, so I don't need to take a ton of digital photos of everything, and I prefer the look of film (and not having to edit photos), so if I see something that I want to capture and it's important to me, I shoot it on film. Also all of my personal projects are on film. It's just more beautiful to me.

ADM: Do you have a typical shooting pattern? what does a typical shoot day look like for you?

AH: Not really. Most of the time I'm just shooting what I see. For my actual shoots with people, like the double exposures in the zine, I plan out how I want it to look in advance, and communicate my vision to the model so they can prepare, but on the day of I pretty much go with the flow. My first double exposure shoot I did actually have terrible anxiety because it was my first time shooting a model in studio as well as my first time doing double exposures, so I pretty much had anxiety dreams about every possible thing going wrong for the shoot the night before, culminating in the entire world being engulfed in flames. So then of course I was super nervous up until the shoot, so I was really grateful the model was Starla who is great at posing but also could give me tips about the shooting. After that though it's been great! I just have my generic idea of what it's going to look like but then just see where it goes. Everything just falls into place.

ADM: What drove you to do a zine comprised specifically or focused on Multiple exposures - or what was the inspiration or the thought behind combing models with overlay (underlay?) of flowers?

AH: I've always been obsessed with flowers, they're one of my favorite things in the world. My inspiration for my double exposures was Starla's double exposures of models with flowers. She also has some amazing double exposures with things other than flowers, but I mostly stuck to flowers and plants since they're my favorite. I did try one or two other things on my rolls, but they didn't turn out well. Flowers lend themselves quite nicely to double exposures, especially with models. They give a feeling of fairies or nymphs or something, which are also my favorite. As far as focusing the zine on them - it's really my first cohesive body of work. I actually had no plans to do a zine for a while, because it's not really my thing, but also because I had no idea what to put in it. To me zines have to have a theme, and I didn't have anything I felt like I could compile into a zine. I have received a ton of positive feedback on the double exposures though, so I finally decided this was something worthy of a zine.

ADM: What was your process like, putting the exposures together? did you plan out which model/setting would go with which flower?

AH: I actually did very little planning. I'm thinking in the future I should do one where I write down what each shot was so that I can carefully plan them out, but on these I just had a general idea of what I had done on the first exposure. On 3 out of 4 of the rolls, I shot the models first, and since I would shoot in a certain spot, then move to something else, I had an idea of how I did that when I shot the flowers. On the other one where I shot the flowers first, most of the shots were random, but then I did some with a black background at the end, so I had that in mind when shooting the model on that one. I also exposed a certain way when shooting the models so that the flowers would show up a certain way. I'm also aware that I usually center a main flower in the middle, as well as the model's face or whole body, so they usually line up. Not everything turned out great, but most of it turned out pretty well. It ends up being a big surprise and pretty exciting when I finally get to see them, and some of them turn out way better than expected, and it's kind of like Christmas, haha.

ADM: Do you have more projects like this on the way, or are you more focused on daily shooting at this point?

AH: I have another roll of double exposures I'm working on that will be different, because it's portraits, all different people (which is why it's taking me forever), black and white, and silhouettes. I'm really excited for that one, but I have to hurry up and finish it! I definitely want to do more experimenting with similar stuff, but I need to think of some new ideas. I've been doing a bit more casual shooting otherwise right now, because I've had a lot of other stuff going on.

ADM: What was the layout process like for your zine? How did you decide to sequence your images in the manner you did?

AH: I selected my favorite images that I wanted to use in the zine first, which was more than what I needed. I had my MOST favorite images that I definitely wanted to include, and then some that I liked that weren't as important to fit in there if I ran out of room. Since most of them were portrait orientation, I wanted to have each pair that you would see together to go together in some way, so some didn't make it because they didn't have a good match. Two that are favorites went on the front and back. The actual order wasn't as important to me though, I basically just started picking out pairs and putting them in. I did try to mix it up as far as the models and how the images look, as well as throw in a couple landscape oriented shots.

ADM: You mention a strong love of flowers and fairies, as well as Starla Little's double exposures as influences -- what are your other influences in photography, or art, and were there any specific influences artistic or otherwise for this project?

AH: I've actually never really tried to draw inspiration from other artists or photographers. I have favorite artists and photographers, but I've never tried to say "I admire this person's style, and I'd like mine to be like theirs." I obviously can't isolate myself from seeing things and retaining that when I'm making my own art, but I try to come up with my own ideas and style. Everything I've seen in my life is a general influence, but I don't reference anything specifically when I create things.

ADM: That's interesting that you were reluctant to do a zine - you mention getting praise on double exposures -- out of curiosity why weren't zines your thing? Outside of praise on the double exposures was there anything else that pushed you over the edge to go make this zine?

AH: I always want photos to look their best, and by nature, zines are not really great quality. I'd rather see and make larger prints on nice photo paper or canvas or metal or something that makes them look amazing. The reason I chose to do it is that the community of photographers I'm in is really into zines, and several people in the group have already made some, so it's kinda a thing that everyone in the group aspires to. So I knew that they would all be supportive if I did one, I just didn't know what to put in one before I did the double exposures.

ADM: For those who haven't worked with a model before, but are curious about that process, can you give any tips or advice?

AH: Two of mine were pretty informal because they were friends, and then one was a professional model that I've been following on instagram because another film photographer I follow shot with her, and I love her look. She had posted that she was doing a reduced rate for a month, so I just responded to her story! She was pretty easy to work with too, so I still have no idea how it works normally, ha. I do have a model release that I use for stock photos, which I got off Adobe, and I had her sign that, but you don't need them usually to print photos. I still think it's nice to have a model release for professionals so that your bases are covered. Definitely communicate with them before the shoot what look you're going for (unless you are providing wardrobe and makeup), and if you want to do nudes, that's another important thing you'll have to discuss first. I don't really have any other tips, because mine were all super easy to work with! Definitely don't underestimate their worth though, because having a model that knows how to pose themselves will make your life so much easier!

ADM: Where can people go buy your zine, and see more of your work? I know the zine was on kickstarter - do you, or will you have extra copies available for purchase?

AH: I will have extras, I will probably be putting some up on my Etsy, which is at https://www.etsy.com/shop/LysBleuDesigns or here at: https://lys-bleu-designs.square.site/product/flora/1.

Most of my current work is on my instagram, https://www.instagram.com/bluelily52